My Lover is a Robot

In her chest, a generator drones,
Buzzes with emotions calculated, denied.

Her lips, a steel smile full of gnash,
Absent of laughter, a kiss I call pain.

Behind grey eyes, she is almost delicate,
A butterfly pinned against cork.

I update her with rich words: haricot, cellar door,
Try to repair years of damage, mechanical gestures,

Install fervor, a hedgerow of azaleas,
Rhododendrons, fireflies in mist,

Smooth her hair with daffodils,
Blooming springtime bulbs.

Her response is blank speech.
Her breath, monotony.

First appeared in Glass: A Journal of Poetry

Ernesto L. Abeytia is a Spanish-American poet, and a Master of Fine Arts candidate at Arizona State University. He received his Master of Arts in English from Saint Louis University and his Master of Arts in Anglo/North-American Cultural and Literary Studies from the Autonomous University of Madrid. His poems have been published in the Albion Review and PBS NewsHour.